Joe Girardi
Joe Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American former baseball manager and catcher. Girardi is an East Peoria native who played for the Peoria Chiefs, was the 2006 National League Manager of the Year with Florida, plus he has a pin-striped pedigree. He managed the Florida Marlins in 2006 and New York Yankees from 2008–2017. He attended East Peoria Central Junior High School. He then attended Spalding Institute (now merged into Peoria Notre Dame High School) in Peoria, Illinois, where he played quarterback for head football Coach Tommy Kahn and was the catcher for Coach David Lang's baseball teams. He went on to play baseball at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering, and he was initiated into the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. Playing career He began his major league playing career in 1989 with the Chicago Cubs, staying with them through . He was taken by the Colorado Rockies in the expansion draft before the season, playing for them through 1995. He was traded in 1995 to the New York Yankees for pitcher Mike DeJean. Girardi is best known as the Yankees' regular catcher during that period, earning three World Series rings in 1996, 1998, and 1999. In 1996, Girardi caught Dwight Gooden's no-hitter and in 1999, he caught David Cone's perfect game. In , Girardi left the Yankees and returned to the Chicago Cubs, where he was named to that year's All-Star team, his only All-Star appearance. He played with the Cubs again in and . In , Girardi played for St. Louis Cardinals. As a Cub, Joe Girardi announced to the fans at Wrigley Field that the game on June 22, 2002 versus the Cardinals had been canceled, though he did not announce that the cancellation was prompted by Darryl Kile's death. Girardi tearfully gave the news at 2:37 p.m. CDT, broadcast nationally on FOX: "I thank you for your patience. We regret to inform you because of a tragedy in the Cardinal family, the commissioner has canceled the game today. Please be respectful. You will find out eventually what has happened, and I ask that you say a prayer for the St. Louis Cardinals' family." Broadcasting career After a spring training stint with the Yankees in , Girardi retired and became a commentator for the YES Network, and hosted the youth-oriented Kids on Deck. He received positive reviews for his abilities as a broadcaster, and was offered an expanded role on 2005 Yankee broadcasts. Girardi, however, decided to become a coach instead. Girardi worked games 3–5 of the 2006 World Series for FOX as part of the network's pregame and postgame team, along with host Jeanne Zelasko and regular analyst Kevin Kennedy. After fielding managerial offers for the 2007 season, Joe Girardi instead came to terms with the YES network to return to the broadcast booth for 60 plus games as a Yankees analyst, and co-host a new show on the network, Behind The Plate, with John Flaherty, also a former Yankee catcher.ESPN - Girardi returning to Yankees broadcast booth - MLB Girardi also served as color commentator for the No.2 booth (Usually with Thom Brennaman) on MLB on Fox. Coaching career In , after rejecting an offer to become the bench coach of the Florida Marlins with a guarantee to become the team's manager in 2006 (although he would eventually get that job anyway), he became the Yankees' bench coach. He even managed a game during a Joe Torre suspension, which the Yankees lost against the last place Kansas City Royals. Girardi remained the host of Kids on Deck in 2005, having shot his shows before Spring Training. YES promoted Kids on Deck during games by showing Girardi on camera sitting in the dugout during breaks in the game. Managerial career Florida Marlins After the 2005 regular season, Girardi was named the manager of the Florida Marlins, replacing departed manager Jack McKeon. His first notable action as manager was to prohibit facial hair, a policy similar to that of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, except for mustaches which Girardi prohibited as well. As a first-time manager for the Marlins, Girardi guided the team into a surprising wild card contention (finishing with a 78–84 record) even though the team had the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball,Hardball Dollars approximately $14 million for 2006. Despite the success Girardi achieved in his first year as manager, he was nearly fired in early August when he got into a vocal (and visible) argument with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria during a game. According to witnesses and video footage, the Marlins owner was heckling homeplate umpire Larry Vanover. When the umpire warned Girardi about the harassment, Girardi and his bench coach Gary Tuck then turned to Loria and told him to stop. Loria had to be talked out of firing Girardi immediately after the game. Rumors persist that Girardi used profanity toward Loria, but many are skeptical of this accusation because Girardi is Christian and has never been known to use profanity. Skeptics say the accusation of profanity was a smear campaign from the Marlins front office in order to justify their firing of Girardi.SI.com - Writers - Jon Heyman: All signs point to Girardi managing Cubs - Monday September 25, 2006 2:17PM On October 3, 2006, the Marlins announced that they had fired Girardi. Girardi said only that he appreciated the opportunity to manage the club, a move that was seen as classy across the Major Leagues and kept him at the top of many teams' list of manager candidates. Girardi was thought to be among the leading candidates to replace Yankee manager Joe Torre after the Yankees' loss in the 2006 American League Division Series, but Torre remained with the Yankees. He was also a candidate for the Chicago Cubs manager position to succeed Dusty Baker and interviewed for the job just days after leaving the Marlins. With his playing experience in Chicago, he was considered a front-runner for the position even before the season was over. However, the Cubs chose to go with veteran manager Lou Piniella. Girardi took himself out of the running for the Washington Nationals' managerial job shortly thereafter and returned to the broadcast booth for the YES Network in 2007, doing this, he said, because it otherwise would have meant a third move in as many years for his family. Despite Girardi's firing, he was rewarded for his achievements with the Marlins in 2006 with the National League Manager of the Year Award and The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award for the National League. New York Yankees In June 2007, Girardi was interviewed for the Orioles vacant managerial position (left vacant by the firing of Sam Perlozzo). On June 21, Girardi's agent informed news outlets that Girardi would be passing on the Orioles' offer to become their next manager. Many opined that Girardi would be the next Yankee manager. On October 22, Girardi was the first to interview for the Yankees manager job. Girardi was reported to be the Yankee's managerial choice on October 29,ESPN - Source: Girardi expected to accept Yankees' offer - MLB and he officially accepted the deal on October 30. The contract is a 3-year deal, reportedly worth around $7.5 million.ESPN - Girardi agrees to 3-year deal to manage Yankees - MLB Girardi chose to wear number 27 as the new manager of the Yankees. He also selected the number to signify that he wants to lead the Yankees to their 27th world championship.ESPN - Girardi lands in Bronx, explains significance of No. 27 - MLB Upon taking over the team, Girardi banned players from eating junk food products in the clubhouse.- Girardi Bans Ice Cream From Clubhouse So Yankees Won't Be The Biggest Loser On April 1, Girardi won his first game as manager of the Yankees, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 3–2. On May 22, Girardi was ejected for the first time as Yankees manager for arguing against a strike out call on first baseman Jason Giambi against the Baltimore Orioles. He received a one-game suspension.courant.com Yankees' Girardi Suspended He was ejected for a second time on July 6 for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Laz Diaz in the 8th inning of a Sunday night Yankees-Red Sox game. Then again in another Red Sox game when Derek Jeter was stroked out May 4, 2009. On August 2, 2008, Girardi participated in his first Old Timer's Day. It was the last Old Timer's game played at the original Yankee Stadium. On October 26, Girardi's tenure as manager of the Yankees ended after his contract expired. It was confirmed through Yankees leadership that he would not return as manager. Personal life Girardi is married to Kimberly Girardi, and has three children, Serena, Dante, and Lena. His father's name is Jerry Girardi and his mother's name was Angela. His father is currently suffering from dementia. Managerial record *''Current as of May 9, 2009 at 01:22 EDT'' References External links * ** Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:Colorado Rockies players Category:New York Yankees players Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Category:Iowa Cubs players Category:Peoria Chiefs players Category:Tennessee Smokies players Category:Winston-Salem Spirits players Category:Major League Baseball catchers Category:Florida Marlins managers Category:New York Yankees managers Category:2009 New York Yankees World Series Championship Team Category:Retired